Correcting Errors in Mortgage Applications

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and products determine a cost to correct mortgage applications. When electronic data is submitted in an electronic mortgage application form, the electronic data is checked for errors. If an error is determined, a cost to resolve the error is also determined.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/541,227 filed Nov. 14, 2014 and since issued as U.S. Pat. No. ______,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/516,440 filedSep. 6, 2006 and since issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,935,379, which claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/715,233 filed Sep. 7,2005, with all applications incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document and its figurescontain material subject to copyright protection. The copyright ownerhas no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patentdocument or the patent disclosure, but otherwise reserves all copyrightswhatsoever.

BACKGROUND

The exemplary embodiments relate to quantifying the quality of the wayelectronic forms are filled out and electronic data is submitted.

In the mortgage application process it is often a broker who takes theapplication while a separate entity, a processor, processes and closesthe loan. The broker together with the applicant fills out applicationrelevant forms, collects information and assembles a dossier. Bothparties (the broker and the processor) do have slightly differentobjectives. The broker wants to minimize his or her workload bycompleting the forms as quickly as possible. Completeness and thequality of the data is not a high priority; the application has to bejust “good” enough that the processor accepts it. For the broker amissing phone number or even a missing social security number orimplausible social security number (such as a number with not enoughdigits) may be acceptable. Incorrect or missing entries however creatework for the processor who either will reject the submitted documents orwill have to research the missing entries.

Another similar situation arises when people fill out forms over theInternet. Generally some kind of verification is performed and the formsare either accepted or rejected based on the verification method.

Microsoft's Visual Studio offers a solution for evaluating forms. VisualStudio 2005 is the latest MICROSOFT® development platform for softwaredevelopment (MICROSOFT® is a registered trademark of MicrosoftCorporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond Wash. 98052-6399, 425.882.8080).Visual Studio 2005 will be released by late 2005 or early 2006. VisualStudio 2005 includes a typical framework for form validation. Microsoftexplains the use of validation as:

-   -   If any of the validators are found to be in error, the        submission of the form to the server is cancelled and the        validator's text property is displayed. This permits the user to        correct the input before submitting the form to the server.        See        http://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/aspplus/doc/webvalidation.aspx        (Sep. 4, 2005). As those of ordinary skill in the art recognize,        “validators” are objects with methods to verify the validity of        an entry in a field of a control. As pointed out in the above        statement, the validators have two states: i) indicating an        error or ii) no error. An error meaning that the entry into the        control validated by the validator is invalid. If any validator        on a form indicates an error, then the form is rejected by the        server and the user has no other option than to either not        submit the form or correct the error.

Other sources also discuss validation methods. Another Microsoft websitecontains an article by Mr. Billy Hollis on the use of “ErrorProviders.”This website article contains a screen shot athttp://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnadvnet/html/vbnet04082003.asp(Sep. 5, 2005). This screenshot shows that some input controls do haveerrors indicated by the icon of the error control. Mr. Hollis discussesdifferent ways on how to recognize errors in data entered into controlsand how to give a feedback to the user, based on these errors. But thewebsite doesn't address the question of what to do if errors arerecognized—meaning that invalid or no data has been entered by the user.The website simply assumes that the user is forced to correct theinvalid data.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,029 takes a serial approach. As this patentexplains, “running the script may check to see that the field wasanswered correctly and if so, go to the next appropriate field.” Thispatent also uses an “either or” decision. An error of violation of arule blocks the whole process.

Despite all these conventional solutions, in many cases it would bepreferable to have a more subtle decision process than just accept orreject a form or a set of forms. Even with a missing entry anapplication or order may be of value. Given the missing informationhowever, the application would be of lesser value. Thus completelyrejecting the application just because of a missing or invalid entry maynot be a good business decision. But neither is it a good businessdecision to let a broker supply incomplete applications or to accept anyincomplete or invalid application, as this creates additional costs tothe processor. There is, then, a need in the art for quantifying thequality of the data and completeness of electronic forms and the qualityof submitted electronic data.

SUMMARY

The aforementioned problems, and other problems, are reduced, accordingto the exemplary embodiments, by methods, systems, and products thatevaluate electronic data and electronic forms. The exemplary embodimentsprovide a more sophisticated evaluation process for electronic forms andelectronic data than just merely accepting or rejecting the forms. Eachentry in a form is evaluated for its completeness, plausibility, andvalue. Instead of outright rejecting the whole form (or set of forms)because of incorrect or missing entries, a cost for the errors isestablished. The cost (or the method how this cost is evaluated) may bedefined by the party that will receive the form or its content. Prior tosubmitting the form the submitting party can review a cost evaluationbased on each entry in the form. It is then the decision of thesubmitting party whether to submit an incomplete or inconsistent form orwhether to correct the form or parts of it prior to submission. Thisdecision can be made based on the cost.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the embodiments arebetter understood when the following Detailed Description is read withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a verification procedureutilizing input parameter and output parameter, according to moreexemplary embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a Control Validation Procedure,according to still more exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a report generator, according toexemplary embodiments;

FIG. 5 is a screenshot of a report, according to exemplary embodiments;and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a verification and/or Cost EvaluationProcedure, according to yet more exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. The exemplary embodiments, however, may be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein. These embodiments are provided so thatthis disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey thescope of the invention to those of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover,all statements herein reciting embodiments of the invention, as well asspecific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural andfunctional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that suchequivalents include both currently known equivalents as well asequivalents developed in the future (i.e., any elements developed thatperform the same function, regardless of structure).

Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill inthe art that the diagrams, schematics, illustrations, and the likerepresent conceptual views or processes illustrating the exemplaryembodiments. The functions of the various elements shown in the figuresmay be provided through the use of dedicated hardware as well ashardware capable of executing associated software. Similarly, anyswitches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their function may becarried out through the operation of program logic, through dedicatedlogic, through the interaction of program control and dedicated logic,or even manually, the particular technique being selectable by theentity implementing this invention. Those of ordinary skill in the artfurther understand that the exemplary hardware, software, processes,methods, and/or operating systems described herein are for illustrativepurposes and, thus, are not intended to be limited to any particularnamed manufacturer, technology language or standard.

DEFINITIONS

The following definitions are provided to the reader.

-   -   Input Control or simply control—A control that accepts user        input into one or more fields, including but not limited to        textboxes, comboboxes, lists . . . . If a control has only one        field, a field can be referenced by its control and vise versa.    -   Table—Unless otherwise specified table refers to a table in the        database or another structured data object such as XML data,        dataset, datatable, that may or may not be tied to a form or        more than one form through databinding.    -   Databinding—Databinding is a well understood term in software        development. In the context of this document, databinding is not        limited to a particular technology, language or method.        Databinding means that two or more objects are linked to each        other with a method so that when the data in one object is        changed, these changes are propagated to the other objects that        are connected through databinding.    -   Field—A field can be represented by an input control or part of        an input control on a form.

As an example a textbox where the user enters the first name wouldrepresent the first name field. A field can also be a Check Box, abutton, a Radio Button, a File Field, an Image Control an object thataccepts drag and drop. A field may also represent a property, cell,node, attribute, element or item of an object, database, spreadsheet,dataset, table, datatable or any structured object containing data. If aform is linked to a database or another object through databinding, afield can reference to both, the field in the form as well as the fieldin the database or object bound to the form. In the context of thisdocument a field in a control on a form may simply be referred to as afield on a form.

-   -   Entry, content, value—All refer to the information entered into        a field or control including, but not limited to strings,        characters, numbers, files.    -   Form—Any electronic form including, but not limited to winforms,        webforms, javaforms, or browser windows. A form can be any        object that allows to capture user input into an electronic        device.    -   Cost—The term “cost” is used in a broader context than just a        conventional monetary definition. The term “cost,” as used        herein, means any measure of the quality of how an electronic        form is filled out or any measure of the quality of the data        entered into such an electronic form. The term “cost” includes        any linear or nonlinear measurement system. The term “cost,” as        the following paragraphs will explain, may include measures of        corrective labor (e.g., days, hours, or minutes), hardware or        software processing time, points, rewards, monetary units, made        up units or other person or machine or process defined units as        well as any other measurement on a linear or non-linear scale.        Cost may or may not be justifiable by measurable or accountable        underlying numbers. Cost may be completely arbitrary or random        or estimates that may later be changed. Also cost may also stand        for reward, respectively something positive if the completeness        of a form is rewarded.    -   Or—Unless otherwise specified, whenever in the context of its        usage ‘or’ can be exclusive or inclusive, it is inclusive ‘or’        (and or).    -   Message—Unless otherwise specified, Message refers to Error        Message.    -   Use of Capital Letters—The text is not case sensitive, meaning        that Upper Case and lower case characters are identical, unless        otherwise specified.    -   Process, Procedure—These words are used synonymously.

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating the exemplary embodiments. FIG. 1illustrates an electronic form or a set of forms 200 containing fields210. The fields 210 on the form 200 are bound to a database 100 throughdatabinding 110 (also referred to as the form is bound to the databasewith databinding). As those of ordinary skill in the art understand, theterm “databinding” is a standard method of connecting the fields on aform to a database. Database in this context may stand for a relationalor non-relational database, datatables, datasets, XML data or any otherform of structured data. The exemplary embodiments can also be appliedto forms that are not using any databinding. This can be achieved byaltering or reducing portions of the exemplary embodiments describedhere. FIG. 1 also illustrates a Cost Evaluation Manager 300 that managesthe cost evaluation process. The Cost Evaluation Manager 300 uses asinput parameters the fields 210 of the form(s) 200 or the data that isstored in the database 100 for a specific form 200. The fields or thedata can be accessed directly or indirectly for instance by accessingthe databinding object 110. Block 400 represents a database orlookuptable (or other form of structured data or formulas) containinginformation on how to evaluate data in each field of the Form 200 and onthe costs in case that the field has an error. The term “cost,” forexample, is broader than a conventional monetary definition. The term“cost,” as used herein, means any measure of the quality of how anelectronic form is filled out or the data entered into such anelectronic form. Cost may be an estimate or measurement of thecorrective actions that need to take place: When a field has an error,the term “cost” may be a monetary value required to correct thaterroneous field. The term “cost,” however, may be expressed in otherterms to denote other measures of erroneous fields. An erroneous field,for example, may require labor time (measured in days, hours, orminutes) to investigate the error and implement or recommend correctiveaction. An erroneous field may require additional processor time,hardware/server time, or even network bandwidth, so the term “cost” maybe a measure of such time or bandwidth. Whatever formatting a fieldrequires (e.g., case sensitive entries, font, colors), the term “cost”may include measures of non-compliant formatting. Cost may be predefinedand stored, may be randomly generated or may be the result of areal-time measurement. In the exemplary embodiment costs are in thedatabase or lookuptable 400, which also references a VerificationProcedure 500 to be applied to each field. (As a matter of fact, thereare several Verification Procedures. The selection of the relevantVerification Procedure will be discussed later). The VerificationProcedure 500 contains a set of rules that it applies to the entry intoa specific field. These rules determine if the entry into the field (orfor that matter no entry in the case of an empty field) is consistent tothe rules or not. If the entry is not consistent to the rules, the fieldor entry into the field or control containing the field is considered tohave an error.

In other words, it is the Verification Procedure 500 that applies therules, but it is the Cost Evaluation Manager 300 that selects the set ofrules to be applied by selecting the Verification Procedure to beapplied.

Lookuptable 1 illustrates a typical structure of the Cost Referencesdatabase 400. Typically this is structured as in a SQL database, XMLfile or another structured data storage object. The cost reference blockreferences each field in the Database 100 that is linked to a form 200through databinding and that is to be evaluated for possible errors. InLookuptable 1 the TableName and Field together represent the primary keyfor the lookuptable. Thus for example the TableName of “ApplicantTable”and the Field “CreditRating” reference the Table ApplicantTable in theDataBase 100 and specifically the Field CreditRating.

LOOKUPTABLE 1 Column Name Data Type Sample Record 1 Sample Record 2TableName String ApplicantTable ApplicantTable Field String SSNCreditRating VerificationProcedure String ssnProcedure crProcedureDefaultCost Double 100 50 DefaultMessage String Social Security # Pleasesupply missing credit rating

The above lookuptable 1 is database-oriented, meaning it addresses thefield by referencing the tables in Database 100. It could also beform-oriented and instead reference the fields in a particular form.

LOOKUPTABLE 2 Column Name Data Type Sample Record 1 Sample Record 2FormName String ApplicantForm ApplicantForm Field String SSNCreditRating VerificationProcedure String ssnProcedure crProcedureDefaultCost Double 100 50 DefaultMessage String Social Security # Pleasesupply missing credit rating

The lookuptable 2 is form-oriented—instead of retrieving the recordbased on the database 100 it retrieves the record based on the forms200. In the case where the form and database are databound and the datais updated this should give the same result. The naming convention whenaddressing either the database 100 or the form 200 is one way to ensurethat corresponding fields (bound by databinding) are clearly identified.A good naming convention as discussed later in this document is helpfulin the implementation. In the above sample the ApplicantTable isobviously databound to the ApplicantForm.

Another option is to combine the two lookuptables as in LookupTable 3.

LOOKUPTABLE 3 Column Name Data Type Sample Record 1 Sample Record 2FormName String ApplicantForm ApplicantForm TableName StringApplicantTable ApplicantTable Field String SSN CreditRatingVerificationProcedure String ssnProcedure crProcedure DefaultCost Double100 50 DefaultMessage String Social Security # Please supply missingcredit ratingThe lookuptable may contain additional values such as Minimum or Maximumvalues that may be used as parameter for the Verification Procedure.

FIG. 2 illustrates the Verification Procedure (shown as referencenumeral 500 in FIG. 1), according to exemplary embodiments. TheVerification Procedure 500 may access the whole content of a formthrough access to all fields 210 of a form 200 or through access to thedatabase 100. Whenever the database is databound to the form 200, thecontent in the database (wherever updated) represents the data in theform, and vice versa.

The Verification Procedure 500 has input parameters. Among otherpurposes these parameters identify the field that is to be verified andit's content. There are various ways to supply this information asparameter, and a Verification Procedure may expose multiple interfacesto cater to several of them. For instance a field may be supplied asobject or as shown in FIG. 2 as field name 510 with the field content520. Other parameters are the default message 530, and the default cost540. The field could also be referenced by, an index, a key, and/orother identifier. The default message 530 and the default cost 540 aresupplied from the Cost References 400. The default message 530 anddefault cost 540 are values that the Verification Procedure returns,depending on its rules as applied to the entry into the field beingverified by the verification procedure. However, a Core VerificationProcess can override these default values and, instead, return specificvalues as determined by the rules, methods, and processes specified inthe Core Verification Process 555.

The Core Verification Process 555 is a process that actually evaluatesthe validity of the content or entry in a field. The Core VerificationProcess contains a set of verification rules. The Core VerificationProcess can be as simple as a check to verify whether the Field Contentto verify is not empty (e.g., non-null). In this simple case of a binarydecision, when the verification is positive (meaning the entry in theverified field complies with the rules of the applied VerificationProcedure), the Core Verification Process will return an Error Level 560of zero (0) (e.g., meaning no error), an “empty” Error Message, and zero(0) cost. In the case of a negative verification (meaning a violation ofthe rules, which is equal to an error), the Core Verification Processwill usually return the Default Message 530 and the Default Cost 540combined with an elevated Error Level 560 of value 1. (Error Level andthe use of error levels will be explained later in this document.)Actual values and messages are based on business rules and may bedifferent.

A more sophisticated field may require a more sophisticated CoreVerification Process. A field representing a ZIP code, for example, mayrequire that the Core Verification Process compares the Field Contentwith a third party database to determine whether the Field Content isplausible. The Core Verification Process would have to query the thirdparty database (such as third party vendor's ZIP code database) andreceive a response. A still more sophisticated verification may berequired by a field containing a subjective, objective, or numericalrating or evaluation, such as a credit rating associated with a socialsecurity number, address, name or other identifier. An empty field mayindicate that no entry has been made, while a low rating may requireadditional entries in other fields (such as explanation of bankruptcy).It is for this reason that the Core Verification Process may have accessto other fields. The Core Verification Process may also override and/orcompliment the Default Message and Default Cost, depending on multiplefield entries or on the value of the entry in the field verified. TheCore Verification Process may also communicate with other processes, orweb services to retrieve parameter or methods for its process orretrieve cost values or messages.

The Verification Process returns one or more values. An Error Level 560indicates whether the entry in the field complies with the verificationrules. An Error Level of 0 means that the entry in the field complieswith the verification rules. A positive Error Level (that is, an ErrorLevel>0) indicates that the Field Content is not as expected, indicatingan error, meaning a violation of the rules. (These are conventions anddifferent implementations may use different conventions). The ErrorMessage 570 typically indicates how the Field Content is supposed to beor how an error can be corrected. The Cost 580 indicates the cost forthe Field Content as is, if no corrective measures were taken.

It is possible to integrate the Cost Evaluation Block into the enginethat provides and manages the form. As a matter of fact, the whole costevaluation can be implemented into each control. This is absolutely avalid solution and anybody with reasonable skills in the art may do thatbased on this invention. The slightly more complex exemplary embodimentsas described, where the Cost Evaluation Block 1000 is separated from theform 200 or from the Database 100, has the additional advantage that theverification of Fields in the form (and fields or entries in theDatabase) can each be performed independently, but using the samemethods and processes.

FIG. 3 is a process flow diagram illustrating a Control ValidationProcedure, according to the exemplary embodiments. In reference to FIG.1 this is an interaction between Fields 210 on Forms 200 and the CostEvaluation Manager 300. The Control Validation Procedure is theprocedure that is called to validate a field in a control on a form, toevaluate if the field is filled according to the rules or if it is inviolation of the rules and if so to determine the Error Message and Costand to give this information back to the control containing the field orto another object connected to the field such as an ErrorProvider. TheControl Validation Request Event 800 is the starting point intoverification of electronic data entered into a field of a control on aform. The Control Validation Procedure shown in FIG. 3 is performed asdescribed by Mr. Bill Hollis, however, the validation process has beenmodified according to the exemplary embodiments. The Control ValidationRequest Event 800 is triggered through an event in the control holdingone or more fields, for example, when the control loses focus. The CostEvaluation Request 700 to the Cost Evaluation Manager 300 as describedin detail in FIG. 6 returns the Error Level 560, the Error Message 570,and the Cost 580, for the particular field as shown and as describedwith reference to FIG. 2.

As FIG. 3 illustrates, decision Block 820 determines the flow of theprocess based on the value of the Error Level returned by the CostEvaluation Manager 300 (FIG. 1). Recall the convention that a positiveError Level indicates there is an error or rule violation in the contentof the field to validate. If the Error Level is >0, then an Error Iconfor the Control 830 that represents the field to evaluate will bedisplayed. Error Icons are often supported by Tooltips. As those ofordinary skill in the art understand, a “Tooltip” is text that displayswhen a cursor hovers over the Error Icon. Block 850 concatenates theError Message 570 and the Cost 580 (both of which the Cost EvaluationManager 300 (FIG. 1) retrieves from the Verification Process asexplained in FIG. 2) in a human understandable way to a string andassigns this string to the Tooltip text. In cases when the Error Levelis 0 or negative, decision Block 820 leads to the Delete Error IconBlock 840 that deletes or removes the Error Icon. Block 860 followswherein the Tooltip Text is set to an empty string, indicating that noTooltip is to be displayed for the control holding the field.

FIG. 4 illustrates the generation of a Cost Report, according to theexemplary embodiments. The exemplary embodiments have the ability totreat forms much more subtly than simply classifying them as “valid” or“invalid,” based on the entries into the fields. Measuring the cost ofeach field or a selection of fields on a form allows building anaggregate total cost for the quality of the data entered into the form.The exemplary embodiments, then, may produce a report to provideinformation about the status and quality of a form or set of forms,regardless of whether the form or set of forms has (have) been submittedor whether it is prior to submission. If the content of the report hasbeen forwarded to another object, a bound database for instance, thereport may also be based on that object. Such a report may be generatedupon request by a user, or it may be built based on some events such aschanges in fields. It may also be generated based on a timer event. Itmay be displayed on a monitor or screen or printed or forwarded orstored in any format.

FIG. 4, then, illustrates a process flow that creates a Cost Report. Acost Report is created by retrieving the data from the Database. Withsome modifications to Block 910 this could also be done by retrievingthe data from the fields in the form or set of forms or any other objectholding the data to be verified rather than relying on the data from thedatabase. FIG. 4 starts with the Request Cost Report Block 900. A newempty Report is created in Block 905. Block 910 retrieves a collectionof all the relevant fields for the respective Report. The cursor ismoved to the record in the table (or records in tables if multipletables are used) for the report to evaluate. All the fields in therecord are retrieved. For each field a Cost Evaluation Request 700 (FIG.6) to the Cost Evaluation Manager 300 (FIG. 1) is performed. If noVerification Procedure is defined for a particular field, then thisfield is assumed to have no error (Error Level=0). The decision Block930 only forwards the responses and fields (or identification of fields)for the fields with an Error Level>0 to Block 940. Block (940) adds aline to the report describing the cost implications. Using the ZIP codeexample mentioned above, Block 940 might visually or audibly presentinformation such as “Zip Code: 44444 is not a valid Zip code. Cost: 25.”Whereas Zip Code represents the field in the Form, “44444” representsthe value entered into the field and “25” represents the cost associatedwith submitting an invalid Zip code. Block 940 may or may notdynamically produce this information at runtime. “Zip Code” comes fromthe field (it may be the field name or a name retrieved from a lookuptable), and “44444” is the value of the field. The text “is not a validZip code” may be the Default Message 530 passed through the CoreVerification Process 555 as Error Message 570. The text, however, mayalternatively or additionally be another string composed in the CoreVerification Process and returned as Error Message 570. The last term“Cost:” is added by Block 940 and “25” is the Cost 580 supplied by theVerification Procedure 500 through the Cost Evaluation Manager 300.Notice that Block 700, 930 and 940 are executed for each field toverify. Block 950 adds up all the costs for one Form and builds a total,thus evaluating the total cost for the current level of completion ofthe Form. Block 960 then returns the report for the Form. If there is aset of forms, the reports for the relevant forms can be joined togetherinto one meta-report. In addition to or in replacement of reporting eachfield with its related Cost a total for the Cost for a form, a subset ofa form or a set of forms can be built and reported. The total is builtwith an aggregate function. The aggregate function can be as simple asbuilding the sum of the costs to aggregate or it may involve a morecomplicated function.

Cost may be presented in any visual, audible, or tactile way. Instead ofreporting the Cost as a number, any other form of communication orvisualization may be used, including but not limited to icons, colors,graphs, instruments or a combination thereof. A slightly moresophisticated version uses both icons and numbers to report errors. FIG.5 is a screenshot showing such a report. FIG. 5 also indicates one useof such a report. When submitting information or a form, a warningwindow pops up, gives an error report and a cost estimate and prompts orasks if the user wants to continue and accept the costs. To people withskills in the art it is not difficult to sort and order the report as inthis screenshot, where it is sorted according to the cost.

FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram illustrating how the Cost EvaluationManager 300 processes a request to evaluate the content of a field. Theexample data for explaining FIG. 6 partly refers to LookupTable 1. As anexample the Cost Evaluation Manager 300 has to process a request toevaluate the entry in the field “CreditRating” of the Table with theName “ApplicantTable.” Once the Cost Evaluation Manager 300 (FIG. 1)gets a request 700 to evaluate the above mentioned field, it requeststhe Cost References 400 for the relevant record relating to theparticular field (symbolized in Block 705). For this example the requestto the LookupTable 1 with the where clause “TableName=‘ApplicantTable’AND Field=‘CreditRating’” will return Sample Record 2 with the values:Verification Procedure=‘crProcedur’, Default Cost=50,DefaultMessage=‘Please supply credit rating’. Remember that crProcedureonly is the name or reference to the Verification Procedure 500 out ofall the Verification Procedures available. The Cost Evaluation Manager300 will load the corresponding Verification Procedure 500.

FIG. 6 also illustrates a Decision Block (symbolized as 710). If theField is not referenced in the Cost References 400 (meaning no record isreturned from Cost References 400), then no Error Level can be set norcan a Cost be associated to the entry into the field, nor can a messagebe supplied. In this case the Decision Block 710 routs directly to Block770, which resets the Error Level and the Cost to 0 and empties theMessage. If, however, the Record is not empty, then the Decision Block710 will rout the process to Block 720 where the correspondingVerification Procedure as referenced in the Record is selected. In ourexample this would be the crProcedure (This is the VerificationProcedurereferenced in Record Sample 2 in the LookupTable 1 as defined byTableName=‘ApplicantTable’ AND Field=‘CreditRating’. The VerificationProcedure is next initialized in block 730 and the VerificationProcedure is executed in Block 740. The structure of the Object thatperforms the Verification Procedure and the parameters passed to andfrom the object are outlined in FIG. 2 (and explained above). Thereturned values from the Verification Procedure are first analyzed inthe Decision Block 750. If the Error Level is 0 or less, then theDecision Block 750 routs the process to the aforementioned Block 770. Ifthe Error Level is >0 then the process continues to Block 760 andreturns the Error Level, Error Message and Cost as received from theVerification Procedure.

The exemplary embodiments may utilize field relationships. The costevaluation process, for example, may need to know any relationshipbetween the Fields 210 in the Form 200 and the Fields in the Database100. This relationship, if any, may be obtained through different means.For one, the DataBinding Block 110 may also obtain the relationship, sothe Cost Evaluation Process could get the relationship information fromthere. Another means is through naming convention. Such a conventionmight be to require that the columns in the tables of the DataBase 100are named with the same name as the corresponding Field Names in theForms. A convention of using the same names may simplify theimplementation. When doing so, special care has to be taken, to avoidmultiple fields with identical name.

The exemplary embodiments may also use various error levels. The aboveparagraphs describe the Error Level as a binary value, e.g., 0, positive(>0), or negative (<0). A more sophisticated implementation, however,may be used that assigns different values indicating the gravity of anerror—which need not to correlate with the cost. The exemplaryembodiments could even be implemented without the use or Error Levels atall, such as deciding based on the Cost if a field has an error or not.For some applications this may be the most practical solution. The useof a measurement independent of the Cost has additional advantages. TheError Level can be used to control the flow of the program and possiblystop the flow even though no Cost was involved. This is particularlyhelpful if the Cost is defined by a user. The user may assign no Cost atall to a particular field, yet the program flow may require a particularvalue or else an exception would be thrown. Assigning different ErrorLevels can help to manage this situation. As an example, a rule may beimplemented that requires a user to change the entry in a field with anError Level of 3, independent of the cost, allowing for a flow controlbased on the Error Level.

The exemplary embodiments may require immediate payment for erroneousfields. As the above paragraphs explain, the exemplary embodimentsevaluate the cost of a field that contains erroneous data. As the aboveparagraphs also explained, each data field has an associated “cost” whennon-conforming data is entered. When the cost is monetary, the exemplaryembodiments may require immediate payment. That is, when an electronicform contains erroneous data fields, the exemplary embodiments mayprompt a user to make a payment for the costs to rectify the erroneousdata. The exemplary embodiments, for example, may prompt a user for acredit card number, bank account, routing number, or other informationfor an e-commerce payment. An airline, hotel, car rental agency, or anyother entity might require redemption of “points” to rectify anerroneous data submission. Moreover, money, points, or other rewardsmight be offered when a user submits an electronic form with a low totalcost associated, meaning that the data is well or nearly well formatted,with data of a high degree of completeness, with no or only fewmissing/blank fields, or all or almost all needed attachments. Theexemplary embodiments may then call or process an e-commerce transactionthat reflects the cost of erroneous data or a payment/reward forcomplete data. Or the Costs may be accumulated over time and be invoicedlater or included in a reward system.

The exemplary embodiments may operate within any computer or othercommunications device. The Cost Evaluation Manager, Cost References,Verification Procedure, and Report Generator (shown, respectively, asreference numerals 300, 400, 500, and 600 in FIG. 1) are one or moresets of instructions that are executed by a processor, applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), or other component or device. Theseinstructions may operate within, or be stored within, a set-top box, apersonal/digital video recorder, personal digital assistant, a GlobalPositioning System device, a television, an Internet Protocol phone, apager, a cellular/satellite phone, or any computer system and/orcommunications device. The instructions may also operate within, or bestored within, watches, radios, vehicle electronics, clocks, printers,gateways, and other apparatuses and systems. The embodiments do not needto be implemented in one single device. Blocks or parts of blocks mayreside in different machines or in different locations as long as theycan communicate with each other. Such communication may be done throughthe web, web services, the Ethernet, wireless communication, or wiredcommunication.

The exemplary embodiments, however, are simply illustrated. Because thearchitecture and operating principles of communications devices are wellknown, the hardware and software components of computers and othercommunications devices are not further shown and described. If thereader desires more details, the reader is invited to consult thefollowing sources, all incorporated herein by reference in theirentirety: ANDREW TANENBAUM, COMPUTER NETWORKS (4^(th) edition 2003);WILLIAM STALLINGS, COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND ARCHITECTURE: DESIGNING FORPERFORMANCE (7^(th) Ed., 2005); and DAVID A. PATTERSON & JOHN L.HENNESSY, COMPUTER ORGANIZATION AND DESIGN: THE HARDWARE/SOFTWAREINTERFACE (3^(rd). Edition 2004).

The exemplary embodiments may be physically embodied on or in acomputer-readable media or medium. This computer-readable media ormedium may include CD-ROM, DVD, tape, cassette, floppy disk, memorycard, and large-capacity disk (such as IOMEGA®, ZIP®, JAZZ®, and otherlarge-capacity memory products (IOMEGA®, ZIP®, and JAZZ® are registeredtrademarks of Iomega Corporation, 1821 W. Iomega Way, Roy, Utah 84067,801.332.1000, www.iomega.com). This computer-readable medium, or media,could be distributed to end-users, licensees, and assignees. These typesof computer-readable media, and other types not mention here butconsidered within the scope of the exemplary embodiments, allow theexemplary embodiments to be easily disseminated. A computer programproduct comprises executable instructions stored on thecomputer-readable media or medium.

While the exemplary embodiments have been described with respect tovarious features, aspects, and embodiments, those skilled and unskilledin the art will recognize the exemplary embodiments are not so limited.Other variations, modifications, and alternative embodiments may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the exemplaryembodiments.

1. A method, comprising: receiving, at a server, electronic data enteredinto a data field associated with an electronic mortgage applicationform, the electronic mortgage application form sent from a deviceassociated with a network address; retrieving, by the server, evaluationinformation associated with the data field; determining, by the server,an error in the electronic data, the error based on the evaluationinformation associated with the data field; retrieving, by the server, acost to correct the error associated with the data field; and sending,from the server, a prompt to the device associated with the networkaddress, the prompt requesting a payment of the cost to correct theerror associated with the data field associated with the electronicmortgage application form.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingprompting for a credit card number for the payment of the cost tocorrect the error.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprisingprocessing the credit card number.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising receiving a credit card number for the payment of the cost tocorrect the error.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising queryingan electronic database for a name associated with the data field, theelectronic database storing electronic associations between namesassociated with data fields in the electronic mortgage application formand the evaluation information.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising correcting the electronic data entered into the data fieldassociated with the electronic mortgage application form.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising retrieving an evaluation rule associatedwith the data field associated with the electronic mortgage applicationform.
 8. A system, comprising: a processor; and a memory device, thememory device storing instructions, the instructions when executedcausing the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:receiving electronic data entered into a data field associated with anelectronic mortgage application form, the electronic mortgageapplication form sent from a device associated with a network address;retrieving evaluation information associated with the data field;determining an error in the electronic data, the error based on theevaluation information associated with the data field; retrieving a costto correct the error associated with the data field; and sending aprompt to the device associated with the network address, the promptrequesting a payment of the cost to correct the error associated withthe data field associated with the electronic mortgage application form.9. The system of claim 8, wherein the operations further compriseprompting for a credit card number as the payment.
 10. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the operations further comprise processing anelectronic payment of the cost to correct the error.
 11. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the operations further comprise processing a creditcard number as the payment of the cost to correct the error.
 12. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise querying anelectronic database for a name associated with the data field, theelectronic database storing electronic associations between namesassociated with data fields in the electronic mortgage application formand the evaluation information.
 13. The system of claim 8, wherein theoperations further comprise retrieving an evaluation rule associatedwith the data field associated with the electronic mortgage applicationform.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the operations furthercomprise correcting the electronic data entered into the data fieldassociated with the electronic mortgage application form.
 15. A memorydevice storing instructions that when executed cause a processor toperform operations, the operations comprising: receiving electronic dataentered into a data field associated with an electronic mortgageapplication form, the electronic mortgage application form sent from adevice associated with a network address; retrieving evaluationinformation associated with the data field; determining an error in theelectronic data, the error based on the evaluation informationassociated with the data field; retrieving a cost to correct the errorassociated with the data field; and sending a prompt to the deviceassociated with the network address, the prompt requesting a payment ofthe cost to correct the error associated with the data field associatedwith the electronic mortgage application form.
 16. The memory device ofclaim 15, wherein the operations further comprise prompting for a creditcard number as the payment of the cost to correct the error.
 17. Thememory device of claim 15, wherein the operations further compriseprocessing an electronic payment of the cost to correct the error. 18.The memory device of claim 15, wherein the operations further compriseprocessing a credit card number as the payment of the cost to correctthe error.
 19. The memory device of claim 15, wherein the operationsfurther comprise correcting the electronic data entered into the datafield associated with the electronic mortgage application form.
 20. Thememory device of claim 15, wherein the operations further compriseretrieving an evaluation rule associated with the data field associatedwith the electronic mortgage application form.